Sustainable Products Galore: Life from GreenBuild Expo

Oct 1, 2009

DENVER —Nowhere is it more apparent that sustainable building products are hitting the mainstream than in the GreenBuild conference's exhibit hall, which is packed full of more than 700 vendors. Strolling through the aisles, I encountered everything from low-flow toilets and soy-based insulation to forestry-certified wood flooring, pervious concrete and, my personal favorite, the Big Ass Fan.

Some of the companies take the definition of sustainability to a higher level, designing not only for the intelligent manufacture of products but for how materials will find new life at the end of the products' lifespan. These meet a stringent "Cradle to Cradle" certification pioneered by architect William McDonough.

"To be efficient isn't enough. If all we do is make the Titanic more efficient we're still going down," McDonough told attendees at the opening plenary. "We need a new design. And as we start to imagine the issue of climate change, the idea that we would come back to a fundamental design profile that allows materials to cycle is a delightful prospect."

Standing at a booth, surrounded by spiels of nylon fiber, was a representative of one company exemplifying that concept. Ultron carpeting is made of Nylon 6,6 (so named for the six carbon atoms on each of its two chemical chains). The fiber is 100-percent post-industrial recycled content, and can be recycled indefinitely at its point of creation using re-processed post-industrial waste fibers and polymers.

I was drawn to the IceStone booth by the wedge of cheese cleverly displayed on its beautiful, flecked countertop. (In my defense, it had been a long afternoon.) IceStone was Cradle-to-Cradle certified just weeks before the Expo. The company makes its surfaces—which are stronger than marble—by locking up to 75-percent recycled glass in a cement matrix. In doing so, it diverts hundreds of tons of glass from landfills each year.

Other Cradle-to-Cradle products I came across include a solar shading system and extremely comfortable office chair (again, long afternoon). MechoShade's Mecho/5 solar shading system uses Ecoveil, a non-PVC solar shadecloth that can be reclaimed and recycled. Herman Miller's Celle chair is made of 33-percent recycled content and is 99-percent recyclable. Disassembly takes less than five minutes with basic handtools. –Jennifer Bogo

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